Small Men in a Big WorldA party of halflings sets out to rescue their kidnapped kinsfolk

The village of Heawold is terribly quiet. Not a single halfling is to be seen about. The small smithy stands quiet, embers slowly cooling. The stoves are empty, the kitchens are cold and like the many gardens deserted. Both the small fenced playgrounds are empty except for many small lonely toys.

The only evidence of life to be seen is the movement of shadows through the arched and lightly curtained windows of the great hall. A town meeting looks to be in progress but if that is the case where are all the children and their keepers? Town meetings are no place for children.

Inside the hall a restless quiet fills the crowded room with tension. Those who dare to whisper are shushed and all heads turn in unison when two figures came in from the east antechamber.

Fortolm leads the way and slowly makes his way towards the stage steps. He stumbles once but the ever present Waltin is quick to take the Chief’s arm and helps him the rest of the way. The kidnapping of his two children has put a massive strain on Fortolm’s already poor health and no one has anything reassuring to say. All have been hit hard by the events of the previous night and the normally cheerful hall todays contains naught but grim frowns. Even the normally placid Waltin snaps at Lana who was already doing her best to squeeze her bulk against the wall to let them pass.

Earlier shock, fear and sorrow has been mostly replaced by anger. The fact that no one had any idea who to direct that anger at meant that a few people had ended up almost fighting amongst themselves at the smallest of provocations. There is a cry from the back of the room and a small baby is quickly mollified. No one mentions that there is a baby or even that there are a dozen other small children sequestered in dark corners of the great hall. What would normally have been a serious break in tradition was accepted as being a just precaution. No one would risk the loss of any more of their children and no one wanted to be left alone. Even Sengo, his head heavily bandaged and his arm in a sling, is present with Belia the healer at his side trying to ease his obvious discomfort.

As Fortolm takes his seat on his tall stool an expectant hush fills the room. Each of the scouting groups had reportedly in but not one had mentioned a word of what they had found to anyone else and all keenly awaited the news.

Fortolm coughs once, accepts a drink from a mug held by Waltin and then haltingly starts to speak, his voice the weakest it’s ever been, “Adan. Adan’s group. They found the tracks. The tracks led. They led. Adan. Adan can you tell them.”

Adan quickly steps forward and speaks up his a clear strong voice, “The tracks led east along the base of Shyton Hill. We followed them as far as Ewnham Forest.” A murmur of angry voices rises up from the crowd but Adan just raises his voice and continues, “The tracks led straight into the goblin woods and looked to be heading for Gorbul but they weren’t any goblins I’ve seen before. The prints were too big and they also had a wagon pulled by heavy hoofed creatures like nothing I’ve ever seen. That’s all.” Adan sits down again as angry voices raise in volume once more.

Fortolm takes another drink from the mug and tries to speak but ends up just coughing up some of the pale yellow liquid. This quiets the crowd and Fortolm makes one more attempt to speak before he waves his hand at Waltin to take over. Waltin takes a step forward and his aging but crisp voice is loud with barely suppressed anger, “Why the goblins have done or allowed this we don’t know and I don’t rightly care. Maybe they have given as no trouble for many long years but don’t forget our history. Yes they attended the last peace and trade talks two months past but most here remember before peace was hard won. It has been decided to send out a party to find out what has happened to our people and bring them home. We don’t want another war with them, we are not strong enough to fight them alone and....”

He doesn’t complete the sentence but every adult and most of the children knows what he has left unspoken, during the last battle with the Goblins the village had been forced to ally with the dwarves. That alliance had resulted in victory and the peace they had until recently enjoyed, but it had hurt them severely during many subsequent winters as the cost of that help had emptied many a larder. The dwarves help did not come cheap.

His voice has lost some of it’s anger and a faint tone of pleading has entered it, “Well, if we can send in a small group to find the truth and bring out people back home quietly it will be all for the best.”

Fortolm doesn’t look all that pleased by Waltin’s phrasing during the short speech but says nothing and is nodding agreement by the end.

Walktin waits for a second wave from Fortolm before he continues to go. This time his tone is all business, “We need a party to go and spy out the goblin woods, follow those tracks, find our folk and bring them back. Please step forward if you would be counted amongst them.”

I am looking for maybe four to six players. This is not going to be combat heavy and I’ll play loose and fast with encounter balance and rules such as initiative order and ranges. Might put up a few maps for any big important battles over pools of sharks or the like. If you get into a battle with creatures way too powerful and don’t turn and run you will get beaten up and some or all might die.

We will be using the DnD 5e playtest rules starting with the 3rd version (100812) and upgrading as new playtests come out. There will be almost certainly be the need to occasionally rework characters though concepts shouldn't change and I’m willing to create house rules if it becomes necessary. I’m more interested in characters as personalities rather than as collections of numbers.

Looking for committed players keen to keep up a good pace. Ideally 5+ posts a week and be willing to let us know in advance if you are going to be unavailable for any period longer than a day (excluding weekends which are always optional).

Don’t feel the need to always wait for everyone to have their say. Post as often as you want. I have no issue with different players being more active at different times. Overall a balance is good but not every character is going to need to be as involved in every aspect of the adventure.

I’m not after every post being an epic tale, many short posts would be better than the rare lengthy one. A mixture of frequent short and the occasional long would be ideal and I’ll be posting like that. My plan is for everyone to keep posting even if one player goes quiet. Characters and what they are involved in will be sidelined if waiting over a day for them would slow the game. Hopefully they will be brought back in when players become active again. However I don’t want this to be the norm.

Your first few posts in the game will be about your characters life on a regular day in the village. Once you have had a chance to develop some connections with the other characters and describe some personal details the game proper will start.

I’ve been active on Myth-Weavers here for a little while and spent a lot of time running and playing mostly 4E games which I quite enjoyed till I got a bit burnt out. I now want to move to a more free flowing roleplaying style with less emphasis on combat and requiring a lot less preparation. Apart from having a few overarching plot lines I’d prefer to mostly ad-lib and adapt to the choices made by the characters. There will be a wiki for the game which I will attempt to update as your characters learn more about the world and its inhabitants.

A few of the games I've gm'd / am gming. Come Hell or High Water is the closest to what I want this game to be like.

I’m more interested in having an interesting mix personalities of the characters than having a group able to take on extreme combat situations. You can start by rolling stats in the stat rolling thread here and then decide if you want to use them or take the standard array.

Race has to be halfling, either Lightfoot or Stout. As suggested in the planning thread I’ll allow Lightfoot’s to swap out their Naturally Stealthy trait with the Halfling Hiding (Wood Elf Grace) feature at character creation.

Class choice will be a little restrictive. I won’t be accepting any warlocks as they don’t make a lot of sense in an area where fae and other mystical creatures are pretty much unknown. I might be tempted to accept one wizard or sorcerer if they not some power hungry megalomaniac in training. Clerics would worship the halfling god Yondalla or one of her children. All are venerated within the village.

Any background trait that suggest you will be accepted in the outside world will not function as stated and backgrounds such as Bounty Hunter, Knight, Soldier, Spy and Thug really do not fit the feel of the game anyhow. Feel free to develop your own background concept or just pick three skills and give reasons for them. I’ll also entertain any trait ideas but they have to be of equivalent power level to those in the rules or lower for me to accept them. I’ll also accept the performer background from Acquisitions Incorporated magical or not.

As far as specialities only Necromancer is not suitable.

Many of the classes, backgrounds and specialities indicate you have some experience in adventurer like activities. You have not. You are just naturally skilled and are probably unaware that you are a cut above the average citizen. But then again what you might be facing in the Big World could be much more than your average citizen anyhow.

Characters should be personally vested in whatever the quest is and be more focused on achieving that than dealing with any grudges against each other or pursuing personal agendas. Not that they can't also have one or both of those. I don’t want any silent types cause I think interactions between the characters is a big part of the fun.

Also I’d like all players to include a statblock formatted as or very similar to the following in any combat posts or where any skill checks are required. Not required for the application.

Elves do not need to sleep. Instead, they meditate deeply for 4 hours a day. (The Common word for such meditation is “trance.”) While meditating, you can dream after a fashion; such dreams are actually mental exercises that have become reflexive through years of practice. After resting in this way, you gain the same benefit that a human does from 8 hours of sleep.

When you attempt to learn or recall a piece of lore, if you do not know that information, you always know where and from whom you can obtain that information. Usually, this information comes from a library, scriptorium, university, or a sage or other learned person or creature.

While underground, you know your approximate depth and how to retrace your path. You can identify the age of visible stonework and make a reasonable guess as to the culture responsible for its construction.

All your Hit Dice increase by one step: from d4 to d6, d6 to d8, d8 to d10, d10 to d12, and d12 to 2d6. At 1st level, you gain 1 extra hit point. Whenever you gain a level, you similarly increase the die rolled to determine how many hit points you gain (or simply gain 1 extra hit point per level).

You have a military rank from your career as a soldier (the exact nature of your rank is determined at the time you select this background). Soldiers loyal to your former military organization still recognize your authority and influence, and they will defer to you if they are of a lower rank. You can invoke your rank to exert influence over other soldiers and requisition simple equipment, horses and vehicles for temporary use. You can also usually gain access to friendly military encampments and fortresses where your rank is recognized.

Twice per day, when you make an attack roll, check, or saving throw and get a result you dislike, you can reroll the die and use either result. If you have advantage or disadvantage on the roll, you reroll only one of the dice.

[B]Lightfoot Halfling Traits[/B]
[B]Speed[/B]: 25 feet / [B]Size:[/B] Small. [ooc=Weapon Restriction]As a Small creature, you cannot use heavy weapons.[/ooc]
[B]Languages:[/B] You can speak, read, and write Common and Halfling.
[ooc=Halfling Weapon Training]When you attack with a dagger, a short sword, or a sling with which you have proficiency, the damage die for that weapon increases by one step: from d4 to d6, or d6 to d8.[/ooc], [ooc=Lucky]Twice per day, when you make an attack roll, check, or saving throw and get a result you dislike, you can reroll the die and use either result. If you have advantage or disadvantage on the roll, you reroll only one of the dice.[/ooc], [ooc=Halfling Nimbleness]You can move through the spaces of hostile creatures that are larger than you.[/ooc], [ooc=Ability Score Adjustment]Your starting Dexterity score increases by 1.[/ooc], [ooc=Naturally Stealthy]You can attempt to hide even when you are obscured only by a creature that is one size category larger than you.[/ooc] (or [ooc=Halfling Hiding]You can attempt to hide even when you are only lightly obscured by foliage, heavy rain, falling snow, mist, and other natural phenomena.[/ooc])

Twice per day, when you make an attack roll, check, or saving throw and get a result you dislike, you can reroll the die and use either result. If you have advantage or disadvantage on the roll, you reroll only one of the dice.

Twice per day, when you make an attack roll, check, or saving throw and get a result you dislike, you can reroll the die and use either result. If you have advantage or disadvantage on the roll, you reroll only one of the dice.

To apply please post at least the following for your application. My preference is for it to be in character, ie you could describe your character as they step forward and declare the reason they are volunteering whilst internally they think of the various rumours of the outside world they have heard. But feel free to be creative. You are welcome to take some liberties in describing the setting but try not to contradict anything already down or take anything too far otherwise I’ll be requesting that you edit it.

Character Name (Something that doesn’t clash with these preferred)
Character Sub Race, Class, Background, Speciality: (feel free to include these in an spoiler tag)

Character Description (at least a few defining features that separate you from the other halflings)
Character Personality (an indication of the kind of halfling you present to others)Connection to those that have been kidnapped or the reason why you are volunteering.
At least three rumours of the outside world that you have heard (I will refer to these to get an idea of what is out there or what lies you have been told)

Applicants should expect questions in this thread. If there is enough interest I plan to get a few characters started within a week or two and have most if not the rest of the party selected shortly thereafter.

Please let me know if you have added a character and don't see it added to this list within a few days.

Note: This game is taking rolling acceptance. We plan to accept no more than four players by the end of the first week (21st October) and then up to four more before the ad closes. We've decided to accept up to eight players for this game as that should provide more interaction whilst still being manageable.

Game Description:

The small village of Heawold is neither big nor special in any particular way. Whilst not prosperous the halflings who call it home are a generally very content lot. They live their lives busy producing fine wine and food that they enjoy as often as possible and occasionally trade to the dwarves of Nuledzar and the Goblins of Gorbul Town.

The dale they live in is quite safely tucked in between the Mountains to the North and West where little bar dwarves and the occasional grumpy giant live, the crowded trees of Ewnham forest to the East - the domain of Goblins but the have been peaceful for many years, and the cold broken tundra and forests to the south where very little bar tall and ancient trees grow and only the occasional bear roams.

However last night the village was raided. Sengo the sentry was struck from behind and sent tumbling out of his watch tower. The two nurseries-schools were entered and some sort of drugged rag was used on the inhabitants whilst they slept to keep them that way. All of the children around the ages of seven to fifteen and two of the nurses were taken.

Only those children whose turn it was to stay with their parents and those few in the small hospital remained safe.

A small party of villagers sets off to find and return the missing children and the two nurses. None has any illusions about the world outside the village being anything other than scary, unfriendly and outright dangerous. The furthest any of the villagers has been is to the dwarven city of Nuledzarís outer gate or to the edge of the Ewnham forest to trade.

Wildchild, ruffian, fool and blasphemer. All of these and more have been slung ruthlessly at Rathdyn and without discernible cause. That is to hear the young one himself say it. He is a fool, and rightfully a blasphemer in the eyes of Yondolla's worshipers. He wrestles with the towns youths and accomplishes nothing worth while on his own. He is doted upon by some, but merely tolerated by many others.

Rathdyn has his own opinions. He considers himself an entertainer and philosopher. He tries to understand the world from the lens of a good jostle and laugh. Children are always much more appreciative of his antics. Any day of the week he could be seen playing among them, even when they were supposed to be in the nursery. The caretakers seem to tolerate him. Despite his conscious denial of the rules when they are an obstacle to fun, no child has ever come to serious harm playing with him. Rathdyn would sooner suffer any pains to save a child from them. He has the scars to prove this.

One such scar marked the whole of his bicep. He was playing hide-and-seek with Lepo, Sheira, and Tommen in the forest. Explicitly against their parents wishes to be safe, and back before dark. It was always better to play in the dark, more places to hide. Adults just didn't get that. Besides, Rathdyn knew figured they'd be fine. They had all done this plenty of times, and were getting really good at not being caught for it. Tommen and Sheira had been caught by Rathdyn. He ingratiatingly consoled them for their loss. Sheira kicked him in the shin and her defacto boyfriend Tommen challenged her to a race home.

Lepo hid well though. An hour after finding the other kids Rathdyn felt the beginnings of gnawing worry in his gut. He shouted the child's name, telling him over and over again the game was finished. He had won. Seriously, come out now!

No response.

Then Rathdyn heard the growling. A grey mass of sinew and fur like any other wolf made clear its perch on a massive stone. To a human it would've been worrisome, to Rathdyn it was life-threatening. The Halfling gauged his surroundings to find the nearest tree to leap onto and climb for dear life, but then a sob. It was sharper than the low growls the wolf was emitting, and it was full of fear. Behind the wolf was Lepo, he had gotten to his own tree for safety as well. Rathdyn made to call out to him, and then the wolf lunged.

He will deny what he did there as heroic. It was desperate and bloody. The wolf got a hold of his arm and his father swears he should have bled to death that night. He didn't, but he bears the marks that say he should have. Lepo wasn't harmed either. Rathdyn came back into town ten minutes after Lepo so they could keep quiet about what happened. The kid didn't bother keeping the story secret and cried into his parents arms. Rathdyn baffled the two adults when they came to him by apologizing outright. He pleaded for amnesty from his own parents knowing, but they refused. He was praised and punished for his foolhardy acts that day. Rathdyn remembers sighing mildly at the ceiling for the time he was grounded, just happy that the kids were safe. He was also happy that no one else knew about this. If everyone figured him out, then parents would be more cautious about letting him hang about their kids. Still, Rathydn always felt it odd when Fortolm looked at him from then on. Like he was looking not just at him, but into him.

At least the old man gave him less gaff after that!

Stepping up

His mother's hands were wrapped around her child, fear and love holding him tight. His father solemnly wondered what the world was coming to. Rathdyn was there too, but just barely. His eyes were scrunched closed, his fists were balled tight. All he was became a single thought, they took them away.

Fortolm spoke meekly and everyone listened in. But for Rathdyn, they took them away.

Adan relayed fact and murmurs spread. Small reassurances for those who rely upon information besides how they took them away.

Rathdyn bit his lip, and opened his eyes. Fortolm was speaking now, and asking for courage. He speaks of scouting and spying and concepts Rathdyn doesn't fully grasp. All that he hears is a mounting rescue, and he is back in the townhall and attentive. Grainsburry steps to, the tough lout of a man that everyone expected to. Rathdyn doesn't move. Tealeaf unswerving follows, Yondalla speaking through him. Yet Rathdyn has yet to move. Barrowmarch, Smyth, Athyew and even Lightfingers but the Olmsa youth doesn't even speak.

His mother's grip was crushing like a vice. His father's eyes wearily resting on his sons fiery ones. They had been holding him down and covering his mouth. "You're no warrior." Father whispered harshly. "You are my only son." Mother pleaded just as quietly. "Things like this were left to better men." "Go to your room and tomorrow if you really care help around the village." "Be reasonable, be safe, please."

They cared for Rathdyn, this he knew. They could not understand the simple fact. They refused to grasp that they took them away. He grabbed his father's hand and pulled it off. The old man was surprised but Rathdyn knew he was stronger long ago. His eyes fell upon his mothers as his hands rested on hers, and that was all it took.

The crowd parted and many eyebrows were raised. "I'm going. Er, I want to go. I want to help and I want to go."

Rathdyn Olmsa a Stout Halfling Fighter Background: (making one up here, subjecting it entirely to your fiat) WildchildSkills: Sleight of Hand, Stealth, BluffTrait: ("making one up...") Horse-play - Rathdyn gains a bonus on CHA based checks with non-hostile children.Speciality: Survivor - Ever fall out of a tree? It hurts, you know.

Description: He's neither a man nor a child. A few facial scars from broken noses and incidental sharp objects bely a youthful visage. Rathdyn is also uncharacteristically strong for his age, and has been known to show off what tone he has. His hair is a mess he bands above his eyes with a leather belt. A perpetual grin is only replaced by grimace in the direst of situations.Personality: To others Rathdyn is either charming or annoying. He tries to impress upon others his view of the world but does not like to offend. Still, he is an excitable one so going overboard tends to be the norm. Good at heart the youth simply expresses his opinions, even if to others they come off as evil.Connection: Tommen, Sheira, and Lepo were his best friends. He'd never admit it to them though. Maybe it was because they were too young to care, or maybe Rathdyn felt a bit of shame for getting along better with children than adults. Regardless his heart belonged to them. Their smiles, adulations, and gumption were the world to him. They'd run day in and day out about the village causing mischief just to have a story for Rathdyn to hear. Now Lepo was missing. Tommen was inconsolable, completely devastated and listless. Sheira told Rathdyn he had to rescue him again, and bit Rathdyn's hand so hard she drew blood when he told her she couldn't come along.

They were too important to risk. He'd save Lepo himself.Rumors:

While napping in the rafters Rathdyn heard about other gods beside Yondolla. At the time he worried if he hopped down and joined in he'd get into trouble. Still, what Rathdyn took away from the chat was different from Tealeaf. There are many gods in the world and Yondolla isn't much among them.

There once was a man who lay bleeding
Whose life flashed before him fleeting
With blasphemous words
He struck pact with others
And made a soul unleaving

The Dwarves who helped the village were in cahoots, cahoots I say, with the goblins! No I dun care ifin they lost as many as us. Nah sonny! You dun git it! Not ev'ry dwarf or gobbo, just the 'mportant ones. Ya see? No? Then git! Brat.

Twice per day, when you make an attack roll, check, or saving throw and get a result you dislike, you can reroll the die and use either result. If you have advantage or disadvantage on the roll, you reroll only one of the dice.

Still time to join the game but the stowaway position has already been filled I'm afraid. Need to modify your application a little to make him a suitable candidate to be chosen once he breaks free of his parents grasp.

A connection that he gets along well with them is a start. The scar's comment is interesting, that shows promise, can you explain that? Also the way you describe him he doesn't sound all that capable, at least that how I imagine the elders would see him from what you have put down. Personality could work but an example of your connection and also you skill/talent/ability/willingness to protect the kids would make him more of a choice.

Also are you committed to being in this for a the long term? Play by posts games don't move that quickly even when people are posting a half dozen times a week and just want to make sure ya know what ya signing up for.

I don't know that there were any shared experiences between Rathdyn and others, but being a tolerable town rascal of sorts would be my leaning on this.

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The scar's comment is interesting, that shows promise, can you explain that?

I hadn't decided. I also imagined there would be more than one because he's not entirely cautious. The general idea is that a kid was in risk of being hurt and he took the hit for them. I.e. A kid fell out of a tree so he jumped from his perch to them without thinking.

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Also the way you describe him he doesn't sound all that capable, at least that how I imagine the elders would see him from what you have put down.

I rolled poorly so I constructed someone who could become a hero, but isn't necessarily one. He has all of the leanings towards success and the boldness to attempt the brave and prove himself. However I want to play that growth, I think it'd be interesting.

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Personality could work but an example of your connection and also you skill/talent/ability/willingness to protect the kids would make him more of a choice.

How much am I able to manipulate here?

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Also are you committed to being in this for a the long term? Play by posts games don't move that quickly even when people are posting a half dozen times a week and just want to make sure ya know what ya signing up for.

I'm actually mildly vetted in play by posts. Nothing amazing but I spent around 3 years on and off playing. Simply put i'm a newbie to this myth-weavers but not to pbp.

I rolled poorly so I constructed someone who could become a hero, but isn't necessarily one. He has all of the leanings towards success and the boldness to attempt the brave and prove himself. However I want to play that growth, I think it'd be interesting. How much am I able to manipulate here?

You know you can opt to take the standard array if you want it. Its 15, 14, 13, 12, 10, 8